Growing up in Williston in the Northern Cape, all Theo van Rooyen wanted to be when he grew up was a sheep farmer. Then his father got a job on a fruit farm in the Koue Bokkeveld close to Ceres in the Western Cape, and his life changed forever. The spectacular beauty of the fruit farms of the famed Witzenberg valley struck a deep cord with young Theo, but he also knew that the politics of the time prevented him from ever owning one of these farms. So instead, he started manufacturing and supplying farmers with wooden bins with which to harvest fruit. It was a good move. With his ear to the ground, Theo finally heard of a farm for sale.